AGM Day - and Thank you Mel

It's been AGM weekend at Apedale, where - once again - the Trustees subject themselves to close scrutiny from the membership. Fortunately, this year at least, no rubber gloves were needed. Once the mighty machineries of Democracy and Accountability had run their course, it was time to have a bit of play. It seems to be a bit of an AGM day traditional that the more obscure members of the loco fleet have an outing. So, the Deutz had a run. A gaggle of the youunger members decided to try hand starting it. Once again, experience and laziness triumphed over youthful energy, and it ended up being tow-started. The World War One Motor Rail MR1369 had an outing, as did the SMH G class loco. The G class is heading for an outing at Leighton Buzzard later in the year, hence its being awoken from a long slumber in the Red Shed. Possibly the highlight of the day came when both the Deutz and MR1369 managed to find themselves incapacitated at the far end of the running line, with only the G class available to go and rescue - perhaps the biggest load it has moved for donkey's years.

We don't usually namecheck people - but the driver of the G class rescue mission in the photo is Mel Roberts, who stepped down at the AGM having been Treasurer for 21 years. Apparently, his opening line at his first meeting as Treasurer was to denounce Decimalisation as an unnecessary complication. The Trust owes Mel a huge debt of gratitude.

The Power of the Horse:- Moseley Railway Trust celebrates £10,000 National Lottery win

The Moseley Railway Trust has received a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant of £10,000, it was announced today. This money will be used to develop the Trust’s interpretation of the role of the horse with both civilian industrial railways and in delivering supplies to the front lines during the First World War.

 During the 1914-1918 conflict, both sides used horses not only for direct combat (cavalry regiments and the like) but also as a means of moving the huge weights of supplies which a fighting army needs to sustain itself. Light Railways were laid as a means of increasing the amount which a horse could haul, and also to spread the weight of wagons in the infamous mud of Flanders Fields and elsewhere. Frequently, supplies would be hauled by steam or petrol-powered locomotives to a point near the front lines, and then horses were often used for the last mile to the front – the so-called Trench Tramways. Using the Heritage Lottery Fund grant, the Moseley Railway Trust will replicate these operations and demonstrate them to visitors.

Thanks to National Lottery players, the Trust will now be able to fulfil two key objectives. Firstly, it will enhance the displays which will be available to the public at the forthcoming Tracks to the Trenches 2016 event at the Trust’s Apedale Valley Light Railway site. During this event, part of Staffordshire is transformed into the Western Front in 1916 – including a replica trench for visitors to experience. The event will include displays of working horses, mules and horse-drawn vehicles. This event takes place on May 13, 14 and 15 2016, and further details can be obtained here.

Secondly, the grant will allow permanent improvements to the facilities and exhibits at Apedale. These will be constructed by volunteers at the Apedale Valley Light Railway, and will include an extension to the existing demonstration railway and an interpretative panel. These will further enhance the Industrial Railway Trail which was initially funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2014. A Trench Tramway wagon will also be constructed – these vehicles were hauled by horses on the very lightly-built railways which spanned the vital last yards to reach the troops fighting at the front.

Commenting on the award, Phil Robinson, Moseley Railway Trust Chairman said “We are once again delighted that the HLF have rewarded the efforts which our dedicated team of volunteers have made. Working with the HLF, this grant will not only transform the Tracks to the Trenches event in May 2016, but also allow permanent improvements to the visitor facilities at Apedale. We are very grateful to HLF for their continued support”.

Vanessa Harbar, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund West Midlands, said: “The impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching and shaping every corner of the UK and beyond. The Heritage Lottery Fund has already invested more than £70million in projects – large and small - that are marking this Centenary. Our small grants programme is enabling even more communities like those involved in The Power of the Horse to explore the continuing legacy of this conflict and help people in particular to broaden their understanding of how it has shaped our modern world.”

The Moseley Railway Trust is a registered charity. It exists to preserve, conserve and interpret narrow gauge railway locomotives and other artefacts. This work is carried out at the Apedale site by a team of volunteers. The volunteers are a very diverse group of all ages and backgrounds – the Trust prides itself on having an active group of younger members, who are able to learn genuine skills as they carry out work on the site. The Trust arrived on the Apedale site in 2006, and opened a passenger carrying railways, known as the Apedale Valley Light Railway, in 2010. The key current development on site is the construction of a large museum to fully display the Trust’s collections.

Glamping

This year, the Tracks to the Trenches event organisers have been able to develop a plan to allow limited numbers of people to be part of the event for the weekend.

Instead of staying in a motel or Travelodge (hotel room only), why not spend a night or two in a First World War tent? This is not only an experience to be remembered, but should be cost effective too!

The “Glamping” package includes;

Option to stay both on Friday 13th AND Saturday 14th May 2016

All weekend “Access All Areas” passes (valued at £30 per day per person) for all occupants

Pre-prepared WW1 style Tents with traditional camp bed

Use of Showers/toilets onsite

Access to after hours entertainment.

What more could you want! Just bring a sleeping bag & any food (although food/drink is available on-site separately)….

The offer is currently provided on a “per tent” basis – although if there is demand, we may be able to provide a “per-bed” communal tent too. These large (approx. 14’ ridge or bell) tents can easily accommodate 4 to 5 people on the camp beds.

For the weekend (yours on the Friday & Saturday nights) inclusive of all passes for those resident in the tent, the costs are:

The cost per tent based on 2 people sharing is £200

The cost per tent based on 4 people sharing is £350

Please contact us here for more details & reserve your tent

The Moseley Tramway

By way of a departure, this time we'll show some photos which have recently come to light courtesy of Mr Alan Graham. Alan says:-

I was at Moseley Hall in the 60's and during my spell in the sixth-form, Colin Saxton became our new Art teacher. To cut a long  story short, I helped to build the original horse-tram which started it all and took a few photos of it, which have recently come to light. The track and  first chassis which became the tram came from Jackson's brick works at Adswood, near Stockport, now a landfill site.  However, the side-tipper came from somewhere else and I have a photo of that in its original surroundings but can't remember where it was. Unfortunately, I never took one of it in horse-drawn action, as that was at a school fete and I had a Saturday job which kept me out of the way. By the look of these, everything looks fairly complete, which would date them to around May/June 1969. 

.....which just goes to remind us all that, although Apedale is something of a newcomer to the UK's population of heritage railways, the Moseley organisation will celebrate its Golden jubilee in the next few years. We still have a few members who hark back to the earliest years. Obviously, things have changed beyond all recognition in the interim. For example, we now insist that the younger members wear long trousers and something better than sandles when we give them a pick-axe to swing at the track. A big thank you to Alan for sharing these photos with us.

The race against time

Just a quick couple of photos this week which illustrates the huge variety of work which takes place down at Apedale. In the Yellow corner (actually, it's grey) we have the Pechot wagon. This is a rather huge French military vehicle dating back to WW1. It was reassembled in time for the 2014 Tracks to the Trenches event, but need a fair bit more work. Needless to say, it hasn't quite made it to the front of the queue - until we remembered (as you do) that Tracks to the Trenches 2016 is less than three months away. The wagon carried a tank (liquid, not panzer) after the War, and had a fair few modifications to accommodate this. Not least is the absence of a floor in the well of the wagon. So, the race is on to get the wagon looking something like for the big weekend in May - 13, 14 & 15th.

In the Red corner - actually Magnolia - is the team painting themselves and, in between times, the station canopy. There is an awfully large surface area in a station canopy, and it's needing three coats of paint. That's a lot of paint; most of the work is overhead, and some of the paint does insist on obeying the laws of gravity. This can only be done when we are closed to the public - and Easter is now close. So it's another race against time.

Fishy stuff

A few weeks ago, we took delivery of a newly rebuilt ballast wagon. It is known as a Sprat (the FSHKND for those who have been involved in Big Railway ballast wagons). After a delivery of new ballast, the weekend was the opportunity to take the nice, neat pile of ballast and spread it all over the railway - as one does. There were a few ballast shoulders becoming a bit deficient, and we wanted to ballast the Silverdale Station siding. This had never been done, which meant that there was a reluctance to run the bigger locos on the siding, and also it didn't look particularly nice. Since this siding is opposite the station platform, it is rather the Shop Window, and appearances do count. So, the Sprat was duly loaded using the faithful Fordson tractor, and a-spreading it duly went. The wagon was ex-Ffestiniog Railway, and seems to have begun life as a Hudson wagon of some sort. This most recent work has been to modify the doors to allow them to be controlled against the flow of ballast. Dropping ballast looks easy, but isn't. The flow of stone must be carefully regulated, and this requires concentration and coordination by both the wagon operator and the loco driver. Failure to do this generally results in the wagon operator being given a shovel and told to sort out the mess. A couple of minor adjustments were needed, but overall the debut of the Sprat was a triumph for the project engineers. All we need now is the Mackerel. As ever, get in touch here.

(T)Raining

It was two things at Apedale this weekend. Firstly, it was more than a tad on the wet side. We are led to believe that the Shipping Forecast will, in future, be changed to "Dogger, Fisher, Apedale, German Bight.....". Secondly, it was a Training Day; we have been training a new cohort of steam drivers and Guards, and they are coming along nicely - hopefully our passengers will have some new faces to look at from the start of the season at Easter. The weather wasn't exactly conducive to outdoor working, so riding up and down the railway in the Brake Van wasn't a bad way to spend the day. As ever, get in touch here.